The invention relates to a ball joint, particularly a radial ball joint, including a housing, a bearing shell which is arranged in the housing, and a ball pin having a ball head which is arranged in the bearing shell, the housing having a mounting opening to receive the bearing shell and the ball head, the mounting opening being closed by a housing cover which is fastened to the housing.
Radial ball joints are used in vehicles, for example, and must receive high radial forces at low axial forces and large tilting angles. The wear occurring over the working life of the radial ball joints can lead to the ball joint causing noises during driving, due to free play in the joint.
In order to prevent this free play in the joint, a ball joint 11′ is known from the prior art (cf. FIG. 4), in which separate prestressed spring elements 13′ are provided between the housing cover 22′ and the bearing shell 10′ in the assembled state of the joint. Through the prestressing of the spring elements 13′ (two plate springs in FIG. 4), the bearing shell 10′ is pressed against the ball head 28′ of the ball pin 26′, so that even when wear of the bearing shell 10′ occurs, a constant contact exists between the bearing shell 10′ and the ball pin 26′, and no free play occurs between the ball head 28′ and the bearing shell 10′.